Anti-prothrombin antibodies in type 1 diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Aim: Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an autoimmune disease, and autoimmunity related prothrombotic factors might contribute to the hypercoagulable state seen in T1DM. The aim of this study is to investigate the presence of anti-prothrombin (aPT) antibodies as a prothrombotic risk factor in patients with T1DM. Materials and Methods: The study was performed with 121 type 1 diabetic patients, who were admitted to the Endocrinology and Metabolism outpatient clinic, and 92 healthy volunteers without history of any vascular, thromboembolic or hemorrhagic disease were included as controls. The quantitative determination of aPT IgG, IgM and anti-beta 2-glycoprotein-1 (anti-beta 2GP1) IgG antibodies in plasma samples were performed using commercially available ELISA kits according to manufacturer's instructions. Results: aPT IgG antibodies present for the type 1 diabetic and control groups were 52.06% and 2.16% respectively. The circulating levels of aPT IgG was significantly higher in type 1 diabetics (20.17 +/- 8.28 AU/ml) when compared to controls (4.47 +/- 2.01 AU/ml, p Conclusion: aPT antibody levels are significantly increased in patients with T1DM when compared to controls. Similarly, the plasma levels of anti-beta 2GP1 IgG antibodies, an important marker of coagulation cascade, were found significantly elevated in type 1 diabetic group. These data suggest that the higher levels of aPT antibodies seen in type 1 diabetic patients may contribute to the development of hypercoagulability in T1DM.